If you’re anything like me, August brings excitement and anticipation for the new school year. The days before students arrive are a time filled with meetings, trainings, and hopefully some time to yourself to prepare for the coming year.
My Elementary Choir Warm-Up Philosophy
If you’re like me, you have experienced some confusion about the purpose of choral warm ups. Many people seem to do warm ups because that’s what they’ve always done—before you sing, you warm up.
Rethinking Your Warm Up: Never Tune Again
I have found over the years that I tune my band less and less. In the past, I would frequently ask a student to sound a pitch, perhaps on tuba or oboe, and have the rest of the ensemble play their own notes and compare.
What’s New and What’s Next in SmartMusic
Just like your students, the new SmartMusic has seen a lot of improvement this school year. In this archived webinar, you’ll learn about those improvements from two of MakeMusic’s finest: Ryan Sargent, manager for content and education, and Ashley Litwack, product lead for the new SmartMusic.
The Importance of Warm-up Time for Instrumental Teachers
We all know that doing warm ups is important as part of a daily routine for instrumental music teachers. Individual and group warm ups can serve multiple functions that include physical, mental, and technical preparation for rehearsal.
How to Apply Deliberate Practice In, Well, Practice
Science provides us with a lot of general information on learning. Have you noticed that much of this information can be hard to implement in the minutiae of daily work?
Music Ed Mentor Podcast #029: Classroom Life Hacks
While I think it’s unlikely that anyone interested in podcasts isn’t familiar with the term, a life hack is a tip or trick that makes your life more efficient or productive.
SmartMusic Repertoire Update: August 2018
Last month we talked about the SmartMusic carousel. This musical “lazy susan,” found on SmartMusic’s homepage, makes it easy for both you and your students to explore the SmartMusic repertoire library.
Using Chorales as Orchestra Warm Ups
We’ve all experienced those frustrating days when it takes half the rehearsal to really get going. Choosing a warm-up that requires additional brain cells can help students engage more quickly.
Using Swing Assessment to Develop Style
One of the trickiest tasks a jazz director faces is teaching students to perform swing. Not only must educators handle the changes to notation that come with jazz charts, but they also teach students to accent and feel the syncopations native to swing styles.